A Hackney campaigner pitched up outside Parliament this week alongside two construction diggers, to highlight the problem of ‘land grabs’.

Dressed as a construction worker, Kat Hobbs, 24, joined the global launch of the Oxfam campaign against land grabs that violate the rights of the world’s poorest people.

Oxfam wants the World Bank to freeze such land deals for six months, and claims land eight times the size of the UK was sold off globally in the last decade - enough to grow food for a billion people. “This is the equivalent to the number of people who go hungry in the world today,” the charity said.

Ms Hobbs added: “The rush for land is out of control: an area the size of London is being sold to foreign investors every day in poor countries. “As a result people who are trying to grow food and feed their families are suffering hunger, violence and greater poverty. We must take action now - investments can be positive, but they need to be regulated to prevent abuse.”